Question 1

Does OCR work on handwritten text?

Accepted Answer

OCR is built for printed, typed text -- handwriting recognition is a fundamentally different, much less reliable technology, so results on handwritten pages should be checked carefully rather than trusted outright.

Question 2

Why does OCR take longer than a normal PDF operation?

Accepted Answer

Each scanned page has to actually be read visually to recognize the text, rather than just having existing text copied out -- that visual analysis is inherently slower than working with a PDF that already has real, selectable text.

Question 3

What's the difference between this, OCR Tool, and PDF to Word?

Accepted Answer

This tool keeps the result a PDF -- it adds an invisible, searchable text layer while the page looks exactly the same. OCR Tool pulls the recognized text out as its own separate output (plain text or a new document), not a modified version of the original PDF. PDF to Word converts the whole document into an editable Word file. Use this one when you want to keep the PDF format but make it searchable; use the others when you need the text itself or an editable document instead.

Question 4

Will this change how my PDF looks?

Accepted Answer

No -- the output looks pixel-identical to the original. The recognized text is added as an invisible layer positioned to match each word's real location, underneath the visible scan; nothing about the visual appearance changes.

Question 5

Can I stop it partway through a long document?

Accepted Answer

Yes -- a Stop option appears while processing, useful for a long, multi-page scanned document where you'd rather cancel and try a smaller file than wait for every page.

Question 6

Are my files uploaded to a server?

Accepted Answer

No -- OCR runs entirely in your browser, including the visual text recognition itself. Your PDF never leaves your device.

Question 7

What happens if my PDF already has real text on every page?

Accepted Answer

Nothing gets changed -- every page passes through untouched, and you'll see a message confirming no page needed OCR, rather than the tool silently doing unnecessary work on a document that's already searchable.

Question 8

What languages does the OCR support?

Accepted Answer

English is currently supported. If your scanned document is in another language, results may be unreliable or garbled -- check the output carefully before relying on it.

OCR PDF

Frequently asked questions